The women’s singles final at the US Open took place on the night of September 7-8 Moscow time. The participants in the decisive match were two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, and American Jessica Pegula (6).
Sabalenka’s arrival in the final was not a surprise. Lately, she has been performing better at tough Grand Slam tournaments. In addition to two titles at the Australian Open, the Belarusian reached the final of the US Open 2023 – thus, entering the decisive match, Arina already confirmed the points she earned a year ago.
Pegula first came to the title match on TBS. Before that, the American had not even been able to reach the semi-finals, having suffered six defeats in six quarter-finals. It seemed that this time the series would last, especially since in the quarter-finals Jessica faced five-time Major champion Iga Swiatek. However, Pegula beat Swiatek without dropping a set (6:2, 6:4), and in the semi-finals she scored a convincing victory over Karolina Muchova (1:6, 6:4, 6:2).
As for Sabalenka, she also achieved a decisive victory, not only in the quarter-finals, but also in the third round, beating Ekaterina Alexandrova (2:6, 6:1, 6:2). In the semi-finals, Arina stopped another American, Emma Navarro (6-3, 7-6 (7-2)).
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For Sabalenka, this final was already the sixth of the season. Before that, the Belarusian had two wins and three losses in decisive matches of 2024. And Pegula had the opportunity to compete for the title for the fourth time this year. Of the three previous meetings, the American won two, and the only loss was inflicted by Sabalenka. In the final of the WTA-1000 tournament in Cincinnati, Arina defeated Jessica 6:3, 7:5.
Who said what before the game?
Looking back on that match before the final, Pegula jokingly (or perhaps not jokingly) expressed hope that her opponent would not serve as well as last time. “She’s a great hard court player, one of the best in the world. But I think so am I. She had an incredible performance in Cincinnati, but I still felt like I had a chance. I hope on Saturday she doesn’t serve as well, or maybe a little bit worse (laughs).
Jessica Pegula at the US Open 2024
Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images
“I know I have a game, I know I can bother her. But I have to be aggressive, make her move, serve smart and put pressure on her serve. In general, play your game, which is what I do. I hope that this Saturday I can implement it and decide the result of the match in my favor,” Jessica said in a press conference.
Sabalenka noted that Pegula is at the peak of her form. “I would say that she is playing her best tennis and feels that she is back in form. She won the tournament (“thousand” in Toronto. – Note from the “Championship”), then she reached the final, now she is here, in another final. So she is in incredible form. There will be another great battle with her. I can’t wait to play against her,” Arina said, according to the WTA press service.
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And 1995 Davis Cup finalist Andrei Chesnokov expressed the opinion that the favorite of the match is Sabalenka, who led with a score of 5-2 in personal meetings with Pegula. “Sabolenka is playing very strong and powerful in this tournament, I think she will be the favorite. If she does not have any psychological problems, as sometimes happens, then she should win this match. On hard courts, few can compete with her when she is in good shape. Of course, the stands will support Pegula, and this can be confusing, but if Arina manages to do it, it will be very difficult to stop her,” TASS quotes Chesnokov as saying.
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Sabalenka started the match at 0:30, but with her serve she prevented Pegula from getting to break points. In the second game it became clear that the Belarusian would try to seize the initiative on the return, but she made too many mistakes and the American, whose actions were greeted with joy by the entire arena, took her serve without any problems. – 1:1. In the third game, the inaccuracies in Arina’s performance did not disappear, and Jessica, playing accurately on the reception, made the first break of the match. In order not to lose the initiative, Sabalenka looked for a counterattack and succeeded. Despite the failure in the third game, Arina did not change her style of play and restored equality from the first break point (2:2).
The next break came in the sixth game, and the Belarusian was again the author. Pegula acted uncertainly on her balls, missed attacks, made mistakes and won only one point on her serve. And the Belarusian took the lead for the first time in the match – 4:2. However, she was unable to hold him. At 5:3 Sabalenka did not serve for the set. She saved the first break point, which arose after a double fault, with the winner, but missed the shot in the second. And in the tenth game, Pegula, serving, equalized the score 5:5.
In the eleventh game, Sabalenka double-faulted at 30:30 and hit the court with her racket several times. She still won this game, hitting her opponent with several game points after a series of “exactly”. And in the twelfth game she converted the fifth (!) set point on reception – 7:5 in 1 hour and 1 minute. In the last “exactly” Pegula double-faulted – the first in the match – and in the next rally, trying to get a shortened shot, she hit the net. Overall, Jessica won only two points out of nine (22%) at the net during the entire match, and Arina won 12 out of 13 (92%). Sabalenka made more unforced errors than Pegula (23 to 11), but in terms of actively won points her advantage was even greater (25 to nine).
Aryna Sabalenka in the 2024 US Open final with Jessica Pegula
Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Pegula, upset by the defeat in the first game, failed at the start of the second set. Sabalenka quickly took a 3-0 lead with a break. In addition, the American, serving in the second game, double-faulted on the second break point, which she should not have done. In the fourth game, Jessica was hanging by a thread from disaster: with two breaks, Arina would hardly have let her go. However, the Belarusian missed a break point and in the next game gave up her serve due to her inaccuracies. After that, the American, passing “exactly” after 40:0, equalized the score 3:3.
Sabalenka’s problems did not end there. She lost the seventh game at 30:0 on serve, thwarting her shot on break point. At such moments, Pegula clearly felt more confident than her opponent, which was reflected on the court: the American’s risky decisions were mostly justified, but the Belarusian’s similar actions, with a few exceptions, were not. And at 5:4, Jessica served for the set. But Arina did not allow her to close the game! Sabalenka got a triple break point and took advantage of it on the third attempt, having failed twice before (5:5).
In the 11th game, Sabalenka served quite calmly, despite a double fault at the beginning – Pegula helped a little with her inaccuracies. And the 12th game was the last. Arina got a double match point, the first one she didn’t take advantage of, hitting the net, and in the second Jessica hit well over the line: 7:5, 7:5 in 1 hour and 54 minutes.
Aryna Sabalenka thus claimed her third title of the season and the 16th of her career. She is now a three-time Grand Slam champion and is on a 12-match winning streak. Sabalenka became the fifth player in the Open era to win both hard-court majors in the same season, after Monica Seles (1991 and 1992), Steffi Graf (1988 and 1989), Angelique Kerber (2016) and Martina Hingis (1997). Arina also became the fourth player to win the Cincinnati tournament and the US Open in the same season, after Kim Clijsters (2010), Serena Williams (2014) and Cori Gauff (2023).
Sabalenka’s statistics on hard courts over the past two years are astonishing. She won 27 matches out of 28, losing only to Cori Gauff in the final of the 2023 US Open. In addition, the Belarusian remained the second racket of the world, and Pegula gained three places and returned from sixth place in the WTA rankings to third – this was known even before the final.
